Credit Card Limits On Disputing Charges

Lynn,

I’d suggest contacting each credit card company &/or bank and ask how these changes would affect any purchase disputes while traveling.

Please let us know what you find out.

Look at the context of the limitation.

Your Rights If You Are Dissatisfied With Your Credit Card
Purchases

If you are dissatisfied with the goods or services that you have
purchased with your credit card, and you have tried in good faith to
correct the problem with the merchant, you may have the right not to
pay the remaining amount due on the purchase.

To use this right, all of the following must be true:

1. The purchase must have been made in your home state or within 100 miles of your current mailing address, and the purchase price must have been more than $50. (Note: Neither of these are necessary if your purchase was based on an advertisement we mailed to you, or if we own the company that sold you the goods or services.)
2. You must have used your credit card for the purchase. Purchases made with cash advances from an ATM or with a check that accesses your credit card account do not qualify.
3. You must not yet have fully paid for the purchase. If all of the criteria above are met and you are still dissatisfied with the purchase,

Trayla:
The previous paragraph says:
If you are dissatisfied with the goods or services that you have purchased with your credit card and you have tried in good faith to correct the problem with the merchant, you may have the right not to pay the remaining amount due on the purchase.

Then the three numbered items I listed originally.

Since I received the same notice from two different companies, I would expect that more credit cards will be doing the same. I could avoid use of Amex card, but with the other AAA (Bank of America) Visa having the same policy, I expect other cards will also be following.

Priscilla:
I phoned American Express and was told they haven't sent out any notices regarding this topic. Obviously not true. I received the Bank of America Visa (which happens to be the AAA credit card) info yesterday and haven't phoned them yet.

I’ve received nothing of the sort for any of my cards...AMEX, Visa, MasterCard.

I wouldn’t have a card that prevented me from disputing ANY charge! That’s one of the main reasons to have a card. It’s easy enough to pick up the phone and call Amex directly and ask the question. I’m guessing g it may be related specifically to the issuer of your particular Amex.

They are simply restating the Fair Credit Billing Act of 1975 law as it applies, and has applied for many years. Most credit card companies have so far ignored the home state/100 mile limit currently when allowing for disputes.

I have not received anything similar yet for the cards I have.

Is your AmEx the Bank of America issued Am Ex? That would explain the identically worded document amd the lack of knowledge of this by the Am Ex people.

Being dissatisfied with goods or services purchased is not the same as not receiving those goods or services. It's also not related to fraudulent charges. It's not a feature I've ever considered using.

There have been several situations where I was dissatisfied with the item purchased. Fruit ordered that was rotten on delivery for example. I have always been able to resolve these issues with the merchant without disputing the charge.

Learned something today.

You’ll find this disclosure now with every single one of your credit cards issued in the US, most likely.

It’s merely a basic federal requirement, verbatim from federal regulations and guidelines. Your credit card issuer likely has their own dispute resolution terms that go beyond the base level federal requirements, and that would apply to you. So I’d not worry too much.

In fact I googled just a portion of the same notice on my Bank of America card and found the exact document, word for word, in published federal legislation, notices on countless other credit card company sites (including Capital One, and others), the FDIC site, etc. So I’d not worry too much, but if you want to be put at ease you could call and ask your issuer what resolution terms they offer beyond these legislated minimum and whether any actual changes apply to your account and your applicable terms and conditions.

The Fair Credit Billing Act differentiates between disputes over quality of goods and services and unauthorized charges.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0219-disputing-credit-card-charges

Complaints About the Quality of Goods and Services

Disputes about the quality of goods and services are not "billing
errors," so the dispute procedure doesn’t apply. However, if you have
a problem with goods or services you paid for with a credit or charge
card, you can take the same legal actions against the card issuer as
you can take under state law against the seller.

To take advantage of this protection, you must have made the purchase
(it must be for more than $50) in your home state or within 100 miles
of your current billing address, and make a good faith effort to
resolve the dispute with the seller first.

Billing Errors

The FCBA settlement procedures apply only to disputes about "billing
errors." For example:

unauthorized charges. Federal law limits your responsibility for unauthorized charges to $50;

charges that list the wrong date or amount;

charges for goods and services you didn't accept or that weren't
delivered as agreed;

math errors;

failure to post payments and other credits, like returns;

failure to send bills to your current address — assuming the creditor
has your change of address, in writing, at least 20 days before the
billing period ends; and

charges for which you ask for an explanation or written proof of
purchase, along with a claimed error or request for clarification.

I'm glad to hear that this isn't something new and possibly the credit card company would allow exceptions. The notice from Bank of America AAA visa came to me with header first line stating: We're changing some terms of your credit card agreement.
The changes included increase of late payment fees, payment applications in addtion to the dispute paragraphs.

The information from several postings explained why the terminology was the same from different companies. Thank you that is helpful information.

I've never had a dispute not resolved by the merchant. However since I sometimes see postings on the forum that make suggestions in discussions on how to resolve (for instance a rental car charge that appears excessive) by disputing the charge with the credit card company, this stated exclusion seemed pertinent to travelers.

Thanks all.

a rental car charge that appears excessive

If you are overcharged for something, or charged for something you didn't receive, that's more than simply being "dissatisfied with the goods or services." So you still could dispute that. See Laura's comment.